CMS update with Continuous Learning.
I am no longer referring to it as a weekly update because I don't know what week it is… 😀
Wanted to start out with a HUGE thank you for completing the survey from the district. We gleaned very valuable information from your input. The majority of this update is going to focus on what we learned.
Let's talk about grades/grading: In conjunction with all the schools in Circle your students grades are only able to increase. Grades were “frozen” as of March 12th. What this means is due to elements outside of our control as teachers, we do not want these elements to impact student performance in a negative manner. Therefore students can only increase their grades. So If a student was earning a low grade in a class- they can raise that grade. No grades will fall below where they were on March 12th. Be aware that Teachers will be putting scores into Powerschool. As shared in a previous update- at this time we need to concentrate on continuous learning, not on specific grades. With this conversation also comes GPA (grade point average)- Regardless of the percent within a grade band (80%-89%) a B is a B. Grades may fluctuate during this time in a grade band But not drop below the grade. Percent of grade does not matter when looking at the overall GPA.
Student schedules and work time: At the very beginning of continuous learning we asked the students to set a schedule that worked for them. We asked them to not work more than 3 hours a day on school work. Depending on each individual student is when school time was scheduled. It is going to look different for each student. BUT going past 3 hours a day was not what we were asking them to do. We also asked for input from students and parents if the work was taking more than that. The majority of responses indicated that assigned work is falling within this time frame. Some indicated more and some less. Students need to follow a schedule- if they don’t time gets away from them and work seems longer OR it does not get done at all.
Teachers posting assignments and following class agendas: Each Sunday teachers are updating the agendas for the week on the CMS CLP website. These agendas need to be looked at by students PRIOR to looking at the content specific Google Classroom assignments. These agendas set the pace for the week’s assignments. With this said- teachers are posting assignments within the Google Classrooms at different times throughout the day due to their own work schedules. IF what is being posted into the Classroom is NOT on the agenda for that day it does not need to be looked at, viewed, addressed in any way until it is on the agenda found on CMS CLP site. There seems to be a mis-communicated understanding that as soon as it is posted into the classroom the work is expected to be completed. NOPE NOPE NOPE!! Look at the agendas first, then go to the classroom. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT! There are teachers that are posting all work on Monday- then asking for it to be turned in by the end of the week. This allows students the freedom to work on these assignments within their schedule. Some students may choose to complete all of the work at one time. If that is the case please be aware that it will be more than the requested 3 hours. That would be the student making the choice to not divide out the work throughout the week.
Instruction Delivery along with Q&A’s: All instruction that is being presented by teachers is being recorded and posted into content specific Google Classrooms. Very few of our CMS teachers are hosting LIVE teaching sessions. We realize that these may not work with the students schedules. We are asking them to watch the recorded lessons when their schedule allows. Teaching sessions are different from the Q&A’s which are live. If students have specific content related questions, this is the time the teachers have set up to answer their questions. If your student can not attend a Q&A we have asked them to communicate individually with the teacher. Q&A’s are not mandatory to attend and each teacher's sessions are not overlapping with others within CMS.
Productive Struggle and feeling like the Teacher: As Teachers, the concept of productive struggle is something that we do on a daily basis. It might be referred to as “wait time” and even during class work time. Educators encourage this to happen. As parents, it might be new to you. In order for learning to happen there has to be a struggle of some sort. Please know that the work we are giving out may involve some form of struggle. As students struggle, the light bulb moment indicates learning has happened AHHHH HAAA’s. What we do not want to happen is frustration. There is a difference. Allowing the struggle to happen first is important, should this turn into frustration PLEASE encourage your student to reach out to the teacher. Again, you are not the teacher- you are only there for supporting continuous learning. If you are feeling like the teacher- please email the teacher. Do not jeopardize your relationship with your child.
Social TIme: All advisory classes have a live session each week. During this time you might see students carrying on non-school related conversations. THESE ARE IMPORTANT! For many of our students, this is a chance for them to see their friends. Their social time especially in middle school is very important. Please know that we are monitoring their conversations if we are initiating the meeting. This is not a waste of the students time or outside of the teachers expectations. We have tried as much as possible to figure out ways to make and keep the connections with students and between students.
When all of what we are doing now landed in our laps we asked for GRACE. We also said we would extend the same. I am going to continue to ask for this throughout this ENTIRE time. We are not perfect at distance learning, we do not expect the students to be perfect at this (although many of them run circles around us with technology), and we do not expect parents to be either. We all deserve GRACE.
Thank you again for being amazing parents, guardians and support for our students. We can't do this without you.